More than 40 statewide health care and religious organizations working to educate Texans on health plan options available through the Affordable Care Act are embarking on a grassroots political campaign to mobilize those who have been left in the state’s “coverage gap.”

The groups’ new coalition, Cover Texas Now, launched its Texas Left Me Out campaign on Wednesday to educate uninsured Texans who do not make enough money to qualify for tax credits on health insurance and don’t qualify for Medicaid.

With websites in English and Spanish, the campaign is collecting stories from Texans who fall in the ...

Comment Policy

The Texas Tribune is pleased to provide the opportunity for you to share
your observations about this story. We encourage lively debate on the issues
of the day, but we ask that you refrain from using profanity or other
offensive speech, engaging in personal attacks or name-calling, posting
advertising, or wandering away from the topic at hand. To comment, you must
be a registered user of the Tribune, and your user name will be displayed.
Thanks for taking time to offer your thoughts.

The current Texas oligarchy is not keen on spending, federal or state, money on people ... as the current 'leader' (Rick Perry) says ". . . that we don’t count as a big success the number of people on government assistance.” What about spending to assist business, for example, from the Texas Enterprise Fund or the Emerging Technology Fund. Is that assistance considered a 'success'?.

This is great to hear. IA big thank you to them. I'm sorry our Republican leaders care so little for our citizens that they obstruct and block access to information about this health care reform. Now we need to elect Wendy Davis so she can expand Medicaid and those 1.3 million Texans caught in the coverage gap can finally have health insurance.

@ Kenneth-- President Obama never sad it was free Heath insurance, it's not! That's why it's called affordable Heath care insurance for the working poor or for those are struggling to pay for insurance. Look! This is how it works! 1) you have your indigent Heath care for those cannot pay insurance coverage and falls back to your local county or charity program hospital. Your paid taxes go to! 2) is the affordable Heath care Act, where most of the American public fall into. The working poor. They work, but cannot afford real health insurance. 3) Medicaid and Medicare for seniors! Ages 65 plus, also you pay into this program already through federal taxes, to insure you have coverage into your golden years. 4) VA or veterans affairs benefits, for those who served their country with honor, courage, and respect--for life! And last! 5) Chip program or children's Heath insurance program, for little ones who cannot afford real Heath insurance. Parents struggle and cannot afford good health care plans, so this one gives them the basic needs. Now what do you not understand? This helps real people and their families, but every young adult must participate in this ACA program to ensure valid continuation of it and to ensure one has health insurance for unforeseen future accidents or hospital visits.

Greg Abbot and Rick Perry are NOT "pro-life"! "Thousands of Americans will die as a result of red state governors’ refusal to expand Medicaid and extend health coverage to their states’ neediest citizens, according to a study by researchers at Harvard University and the City University of New York."http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/06/harvard-study-says-lack-of-medicaid-expansion-in-red-states-will-kill-thousands/

Recap: In addition to refusing $100 B in health care funds, Reds also diminished the elegible pool of those who could receive premium assistance. The Fed threshold is 400% of poverty income, in Texas the threshold is 138%, resulting in fewer people eligible for assistance. Which phrase works; "Compassionate Conservative", "Pro-Life", or "Benign Neglect"?

@Darrell—Even the name is a lie. It is not affordable. You are right about the indigent care falling back into local communities. Prior to ObamaCare, I have neither seen nor heard of anyone who was denied medical care when it was needed. I do take issue with your statement that the majority of Americans are considered the “Working Poor”. Unless the population of the US has dropped dramatically since Obama took office, 3-5 million people do not make of the majority of American citizens (I am referring to the claim that 3-5 million Americans don’t have insurance.). So with the fact that I’m already paying into Medicaid and Medicare to care for me in later life, so I’m covered there – have been for several decades now.What do I not understand? I’ll tell you! 1)I do not understand how you think mandating me to purchase something from a private entity will provide funds to finance this government boondoggle. Oh, I know, the government will raise the taxes on the insurance companies in order to get the funds that I am forced to pay them! And if I don’t make a purchase, then I get fined. Sounds like an organized crime tactic to insure a revenue stream. If I don’t pay for “Protection”, then I’ll get beat up.2)I don’t understand why you think this such a good deal. I find that all of my medication has at least doubled since the first ACA law went into effect. Even over the counter drugs have gone up. In a free market society, any business is at the mercy of what the market will bear. If this is such a good idea, then let it face the market without purchase mandates. My guess is it would fail epically.3)I don’t understand how mandating me to fund this will help these “needy” folks learn how to take care of themselves, and how they will be able to teach their children how to take care of themselves. We all need a helping hand at some point in our lives. Donations, charity, and churches are in place for these kind of occurrences. But these are only temporary solutions, designed to assist for a short time until the person(s) get back on their feet. I do not have a problem with this type of assistance. But this administration seems to take pride in increasing the number of folks it carries on welfare. This only breeds contempt for the working person by the ‘needy’ person whom has chosen the career path as a permanent welfare recipient, complete with healthcare. Kind of heading the wrong direction, don’t you think?4)I don’t understand how the government that claims there to be between 3-5 million uninsured can spend $2.6 Trillion on insuring them. Wait for it---that’s about $520,000 per person. I bet I could find an insurance plan that really rocks for that kind cash! It seems to me that it would have made more sense to just pay the insurance premiums than to take over an entire industry, and cost everybody way more than it will ever be worth. But wait, democrats need to be needed. So let’s create a train wreck, so we can have something to fix! Want to? Be fun!5)And mostly, I do not understand how you could hate America so much as to promote, encourage and aid in it’s destruction. This country needs to wake up, demand congress put a stop to this before it is too late. The majority of the people in this country DO NOT want the ACA! Way more than the 3-5 million people this is supposed to save. We the people need to push congress to think about what’s good for America. We the people need to shout from the rooftops “We’re not taking this anymore!”You want help those in need? Participate in your community. Aid those in trouble. Give not only your time but find a good charitable cause and help fund it! I do, and I find it rewarding. It’s a great feeling to give something to someone truly in need. It feels even better when I know that my assistance has led to their self-reliance, I don’t feel like I’m throwing good money after bad! You cannot mandate charity and expect people to get excited about – unless of course, you are on the receiving end.

my classmate's step-mother makes $65 /hour on the computer . She has been fired from work for 8 months but last month her check was $17235 just working on the computer for a few hours. read this post here........... www.KeptMoney.com

Randy Eden Those people would have qualified for Medicaid if Perry expanded it. Comprehension is not your strong suit, I see. Unlike Republicans, Demoracts actually care about people that are born and breathing, not just when they are still just a bunch of cells. If you actually finished the 9th grade, you would have learned that a fetus is not a baby.

We the People of the Great State of Texas have had enough of your bribes, kickbacks, and selling out the citizens for your personal financial gain. I wonder why Susan Comb is supporting Glenn Hegar? With his propensity of fiscal dishonesty, I guess the adage birds of a feather. Though I'm pretty sure this what we don't want for Texas. Just like Combs, Hegar doesn't list the spouses income and hides money calling their occupation Farming and Ranching. Some lawmakers, like Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, do not disclose their spouse's income; the form stipulates that it must be disclosed only if they have substantial control over the money. Thus, Hegar lists his occupation as farming, and makes no mention that his wife, Dara, is a lawyer with the Mark Lanier Firm, a prominent Houston plaintiff's law firm.http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/kilday-hart/article/Conflicts-of-interest-a-way-of-life-in-Texas-4170345.php#/0

Harvey Hilderbran - Though I wonder if he enjoyed those Football tickets to Texas Tech that he was not legally allowed to receive and utilize for his personal benefit, but had to turn over to Susan Combs the Comptroller for disposal?http://www.texaswatchdog.org/files/2008/10/hilderbran_harvey_r_00020285_365139_2007_000.pdf

Debra Medina - Whose been a Registered Nurse since 8/24/1984 and with all of her various bids for office it seems to me that she is just trying every angle possible to get onto the government payroll. I wonder why that is? Mighty strange, mighty strange indeed.http://exiledonline.com/behind-the-tea-bagger-facade-just-another-bush-league-republican-dead-ender/#more-18446

Raul Torres - talks a great game, but why would he give up running his accounting firm to be a State Representative and now bid for Comptroller. If we can't trust him to register his company Raul Torres, CPA with the Better Business Bureau, why would we trust his with our State's financial future? Something seems off to me. Maybe it is that fancy Doctorate of Business Administration degree I have, or my years of honesty as a Minister and Freemason. But just to let Mr. Torres know the State Comptroller hires accountants and a DBA like me leads them. http://www.bbb.org/central-texas/business-reviews/accountants-certified-public/raul-torres-cpa-in-corpus-christi-tx-133943

Mike Collier - Kingwood businessman and accountant Mike Collier has announced he’s running for comptroller as “an independent, pro-business Democrat with experience in the energy sector.” A Democrat that voted for Mitt Romney sounds to me an awful lot like a man who pander to whatever side will have him and who he thinks will be most beneficial to him. But what do I know, maybe my fellow Texans want those qualities in a leader. http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/tag/mike-collier/

Will this politization of the navigator network also collect stories of the all the people who had insurance, lost it due to Obamacare regulations, and are finding their new options are far more expensive, far worse coverage, have far higher deductibles and/or don't include their current doctors? Will they take stories of coverage supposedly obtained, but lost to the massive system errors in the Health exchanges? or cases of identity theft either from the sites or by unscrupulous navigators? Or are those problems not of interest this group, simply because they do not grow the all-devouring beast?

Those hard-working Texans who cook your food, mow your lawn, and cut your hair will never be able to make enough money to buy insurance. Medicaid certainly has some problems, but last May doctors in the Texas Medical Association voted in favor of expanding Medicaid now while we work constantly to improve it. It is not a matter of whether Texans want to pay to expand Medicaid, because we have already paid for it in federal taxes. The only question is whether we want to continue paying higher local taxes and health insurance premiums because we won't take the extra Medicaid money. Texas has a long history of not taking care of the poor, so holding out for a block grant is just whistling in the wind. Tell Gov. Perry you want him to cut your taxes by expanding Medicaid now!